One thing that comes to mind is "Education". What IS
education. I once attended a meeting of Indigenous Aboriginals.
The local "White/Anglo" government office scheduled the
meeting for 7 PM at a downtown office building. A long table was set
up with water containers holding ice, fresh water and accompanied by
glasses in front of each seat, a pen, and writing paper. 7 PM came
and went, as did 8 Pm ....and 9 PM.....what happened????

Providing someone a 'Seat at the Table' requires an understanding of the
'Table'. Some might recall that in the Korean and Vietnam wars,
MONTHS were spent deciding what layout the negotiation tables would have.
Silly???

Aboriginals have a cultural ethic to meet under a large central tree.
The tree represents elders, the ground a table, the sunset closure.
So they meet at sunset, not 7 PM. They meet at a Tree, not an
office building. They sit on the ground for a table. And
interestingly enough....they 'negotiate' until TOTAL concensus is reached.
In our society that may take a while. But perhaps in their
10,000 year history they have learned that winning a battle is not
necessarily winning the war, and 'giving in' is not always such a bad
means of 'negotiation'.

The point is, that when dealing with other cultures education we must be
cognizant of their perception of life & reality. Why do
Indonesians have such high birth rates. Think back to when you were
in high-school and how you might feel if all your friends were getting
married and having cute little babies? Would you believe some
imported educator? What if having another child ensured that you
would have income from another person working in the fields harvesting
rice? What if it gave a chance at a better life that you could never
have, or enough money to send one child to school?

These are EXTREMELY difficult questions with no easy, right, or
straightforward answers. So should we give up? No, I think
not....but we should try to remember the 'Table' when designing education
and action oriented programs.

Keep up the good ideas - because it's the diversity of perspectives that
solve problems.